


Science, Swords, PASSION

by MercuryHomophony



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ASL Frisk, F/F, Frisk is about 7 years old, Selectively Mute Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-06 03:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5401118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryHomophony/pseuds/MercuryHomophony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A number of shorts about Alphys and Undyne's life, adapting to the surface, navigating their new world, and messing around with their friends!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The *Best* Babysitters

“…are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Toriel, listen - We’ll be AWESOME!” The fish-monster gave the former queen a wide grin. “Frisk’ll have a _great_ time here! You don’t have to worry about a thing!”

“I’m… not concerned about them having a fun time…” Toriel said carefully, glancing over at her child as the small human waved cheerfully to Alphys.

Undyne reined her enthusiasm in, just a little bit. “Really. There’s no place they’d be safer, your majesty, I _promise_!”

“Oh,” Toriel raised one paw over her mouth, “You really don’t have to call me that…” She watched as Alphys said something to Frisk, and the small human nodded enthusiastically, giving the scientist two thumbs up and a smile. “But, they do look happy to be here… and I’ll only be gone a little while…”

“Trust us. Frisk will be fine.” Undyne laughed. “They’re a tough kid! And we’ll be keeping a close eye on them!” She leaned in a little. “I think Alphys has been waiting to show them this anime she likes, and that could take the entire time you’re gone!”

“I hope not,” Toriel said primly. “They do need to get to bed on time, if I’m not back before then.”

Undyne waved one hand, batting off the concern. “Psh, no worries, we’ll get them to sleep on time. Isn’t that right, punk?!” she shouted over her shoulder. Alphys jumped, but Frisk just turned around and shot them a thumbs up as well.

“Well, if you’re sure…” Undyne could see Toriel’s resolve breaking, and heaved an internal sigh of relief when the goat-lady finally smiled. “Then, I will be on my way. Frisk, please be on your best behavior for these two. And all of you, have fun, and be careful, would you?”

Frisk nodded, and Alphys added her two cents: “D-don’t worry, Queen Toriel!” she squeaked. “W-we’ll take good care of Frisk!”

Toriel nodded, waved one big, furry paw, and left. Undyne carefully peered out the window after her, watching as she walked to the end of the drive and down the street. Once she’d vanished from view, the fishy monster turned, a wide, snaggle-fanged grin splitting her face in two.

“Who’s ready to get this party _started_?!”

 

—

 

“-a-and that’s why the three main characters had to, uh… split up, at, at the end, there!” Alphys explained, gesturing to the end credits that rolled up the screen. Frisk nodded solemnly. It was sometimes hard to get a read on how they felt, but they, and most of their friends, had gotten a grasp on the human’s expressions. And for Frisk, actions spoke much louder than words. Undyne had spotted them nabbing a tissue or two during the anime’s finale - you couldn’t hide that kind of move from the former head of the royal guard! “And, it’s, uh… definitely, one of my favorite animes! That I’ve uh… found, since coming up to the surface. Actually,” and the small scientist peered over Frisk’s head at Undyne, blushing a little. “Undyne found it for me!” Undyne smirked proudly, puffing up her chest a little. “S-so, what did you think?”

The human looked at the credits impassively, then turned to Alphys. One thumb up… then another… then a big hug.

“O-oh!” Alphys returned it. “I guess you really liked it, huh?” Frisk pulled away with a small smile, nodding. “W-well, I hear they’re gonna do a sequel… I’ll watch it and see if it’s any good, and if it is, uh, maybe we could watch that next time?”

The child’s smile widened, and they nodded. Then, their hands started moving, the little patterns and shapes that was the way they preferred to communicate. Undyne craned her neck to see what they were saying.

“Oh, you wanna see the house, huh?” Undyne stretched her arms, loosening the cramp she’d gotten, sitting through three hours of anime. “Yeah! You haven’t come over to visit us since we came topside, huh?” Frisk shook their head. “Well, you’re in for something _awesome_! Alphys and I live in only the most amazing, most bada-ahhh…” she trailed off, Alphys shaking her head furiously from behind Frisk, who tilted their head to one side, confused. “Most, uh… Bad…dest, but in a good way, house, EVER!” Steam recovered, she leapt to her feet, swinging Frisk under one arm and Alphys under the other. Frisk wriggled excitedly, while Alphys just went pink, claws covering her face, shy. “So! Let’s give you the grand tour!”

“Um, Undyne, maybe we could- Eep!” Alphys squeaked in surprise as Undyne leapt forward, somehow managing to land in the foyer without hitting her head (or her two passengers) on the door frame.

“So! That was the living room! And this is where you came in!” Another bound, and they were in the kitchen. “And this! Is where we cook!”

“U-Undyne and Papyrus actually had a cooking lesson here a few days ago,” Alphys added, clutching at her glasses as they slipped down her snout. “B-but I made the whole room fire-proof! So, there were no, uh…” she trailed off, glancing at a scorch mark on the wall. “…permanent damages.”

“Yeah! Isn’t Alphys _awesome_?” Frisk gave a thumbs up, but Undyne wasn’t waiting for a response - instead, she leapt back into the living room, and through the hall.

“And here are the _stairs_!” And without any ado at all, they were at the top. Three doors lined the hallway. With a sharp kick, the first one was blown off its hinges. Alphys sighed, though whether with admiration or exasperation, Undyne wasn’t sure. Probably a mixture of both. Alphys usually got pretty flustered when Undyne was throwing her strength around.

“This is my room!” the warrior announced, finally putting her two passengers down. Alphys stumbled a little, and Undyne was quick to catch her, giving her some support while she got her legs under her - but Frisk had taken off, and was looking around the room with hand flutters of awe as they inspected everything. Alphys adjusted her glasses again, and Undyne leaned against the door frame, arms crossed and looking cool as Frisk explored her room. “Yeah, pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Undyne had been lucky in the packing department when everyone had moved to the surface - a burned down house meant no furniture to move, or things to bring up, and she’d always been a bit spartan in her housing - probably as a result of having burned her house down so many times, Alphys suspected. The little lizard scientist had convinced her to decorate a little more, and had given her some gifts to do so during the last Gifts-under-trees festival (and thank you, Asgore, for that name…). Nothing big, just a few anime posters here, a couple figurines there… they lined the walls, and sat on little shelves around the room. The more Undyne touch came from the keyboard in the corner (they hadn’t been able to find a full piano for the living room yet), and the giant sword Alphys had made her (which sat on it’s display rack, fortunately out of reach of the tiny Frisk).

Then, of course…

There were the _other_ weapons.

“Ah!” Undyne beamed proudly as Frisk pulled one out of the huge bag, studying it, puzzled. “I see you’ve found my Bofa weapons!”

“Eh, uh… boffer, Undyne.”

“Right! Boffer weapons!” Frisk turned towards them, holding the foam “dagger,” confusion written all over their face. “It’s a game some humans play, to practice wielding weapons up to ten times their size!” She plucked one of the longer, more complicated swords from the bag, plopping down cross-legged next to Frisk. “See? It’s just foam and pipe, but-” She swung it, just over Frisk’s head, and the human ducked instinctively. Undyne bopped them on the head with it. “You can still use it to fight, but no one gets hurt!” She shouldered it, smirking. “Papyrus and I have been using them to practice; it’s a really great workout.” She pointed to Alphys. “Alphie makes most of them, which is good… they kinda break easier than spears or gigantic metal swords! But, sometimes she spars with us too, right?”

Frisk turned to the scientist, face sparkling with wonder, and Alphys shrugged, self conscious. “I, uh… I try it every now and then. I’m not very good, though…” she mumbled, rubbing her shoulder.

“Nah, you’re getting better every time,” Undyne laughed. Frisk tugged at her sleeve, gently. “Hmm? What is it?”

Frisk waved the tiny foam dagger over their head, then pantomimed darting and parrying… then pointed at Undyne, and Alphys.

“Uh… I dunno if that would be a good idea…” the scientist said. “I mean… Toriel would be pretty upset if, uh… you got hurt. And even with the padding…”

Frisk pouted, then turned to Undyne, giving her the most pleading look they could manage. And Undyne was never one to turn down the offer of training.

“Naw! They’ll be fine! After all, they got through the whole Underground, and past _me_ in a real fight!” And once again, Frisk was tucked under one arm, and the bag of foam weapons over the other shoulder. “To the backyard!”

 

—

 

“…so.” Alphys and Undyne stood sweating under the Queen’s scrutiny. Undyne even had the decency to look embarrassed. “You decided, after promising me that they’d be safe and sound with you… to start a _fight_ with Frisk?”

“To be fair,” Undyne defended, “Frisk started it first.”

“Frisk, capable as they are, is still just a _child_ ,” Toriel emphasized. Frisk, sitting over on the couch and nursing their sore jaw, looked over, frowning. “And _you two_ , who were supposed to be the responsible adults-!”

“W-we’re sorry!” Alphys yelped. “T-the foam was really well padded, it shouldn’t have… huh?”

Frisk had trotted over to the three of them, a little smile on their face, and had tapped Alphys’ shoulder.

“W-what is it, Frisk?”

The human’s smile widened, until their lips pulled back in a full blown grin. They held up something small, and white. “First one!” they said, pointing at the gap in the front of their teeth.

The three monsters stared at the child, who beamed happily at them, holding up the lost tooth. And shortly after, all hell broke loose.

“My _child_! Are you - what - how??”

“Sweet! Do they grow back as fangs?! That’s what _mine_ did!”

“Ah, um-! M-maybe they can, uh… put it back in?!”

Frisk just let them fuss over them, with a big smile on their face.

They really hoped they’d be able to visit Undyne and Alphys again soon. They were _fun_ babysitters.


	2. Undyne gets a Reputation with the Fire Department

 

Officer Jones had a simple policy, with three steps.

Step 1. If there was a call, attend it.

Step 2. If there were frequent calls, give those responsible a severe warning and a stern talking to.

Step 3. If step 2 failed, push the issue legally.

 

It was a simple policy, and it worked, because he used it without fail. When there was a fire called in, he and his team headed down, with the most empathy and care they could manage, fixed the problem, saved the day, and helped people rebuild. If there were a problem, and it seemed like people weren’t taking care, then he’d be able to root out the issue and make things safer for everyone.

He had never had to go to step three.

But he was honestly considering it.

 

Jones looked up at the building and sighed. Half blocky, lab-like building, half horrible fish head that looked something like papier-mâché…

And, for the third time this week, one of the windows was spewing smoke.

“Be gentle with the monsters, they said… New era of peace, they said,” he muttered under his breath. Around him, his team was running through, hooking up the hoses and getting ready to check the house for residents. He knew they wouldn’t have to bother, but it was good for his people to keep in practice, even if there was no real emergency here.

“Three, two…” he counted under his breath, and, as expected, before he could say one, the door to the house was bust down… from the inside.

“Hey punks!” The local fish monster, the current bane of the fire department, waved cheerfully at them, putting down the small yellow monster she was carrying under one arm. “False alarm, it’s _totally_ under control.”

“Is it now.” He looked pointedly at the pillar of smoke billowing out of the window, then back to the two monsters. The blue one ( _Undyne_ , he reminded himself) was grinning, and waving to a couple of the members of his team, greeting the ones she recognized. The smaller yellow one in the lab coat ( _…Alphys? Alphonse?_ ) was fiddling with her claws, looking nervous.

He sighed.

“So, what happened this time?” he asked, reaching into the truck and pulling out a statement pad. Alphys (and it was Alphys, she was wearing a name tag) jumped.

“O-oh! Well, you see… It’s actually pretty simple. I w-was working on a new solution for the university, a-and-”

He tuned out, jotting down the same notes he had the last several times he’d made this call. Scientist monster tries a thing. Fish monster tries to help. Explosion ensues. Is under control by the time they arrived. Give warning and depart (because the city council was _strongly advising_ against giving the monsters any fines right off the bat, or any legal retaliations, until they’d had a chance to “settle in”).

“…and so, Undyne thought maybe if we added that green solution, which of course was concentrated liquid magic XKV…”

And honestly, the first week he thought he’d been very understanding. There was that one big snafu with the monster bartender… the one made entirely of fire… who had set off his fire alarm nearly every hour… But, there wasn’t much they could do about that. They had worked around it, found the best solution for everybody, and gone along their way.

Besides, New Grillby’z was pretty popular, and Jones would grudgingly admit that the food there was not bad… even if it was made with magic, and not meat and potatoes.

“…a-and I _tried_ to tell her that the combination of liquid magic XKV and sodium would be, uh… volatile, but-”

“I get the idea, Doctor,” Officer Jones said, tired. He ripped the ticket off of the pad, handed it to her, and made a snap decision. “This is your last warning.”

“Thank y- uh- wait, what?” Alphys asked, adjusting her glasses and looking down at the ticket, then up at Jones. “What do you-?”

“I mean, if we get another false alarm from this residence, we will have to fine you,” he continued without waiting for her to finish her question. “And if we continue to get false alarms…” he glanced back up at the smoke pillar, “even if they appear to be serious alarms, we will have to take to the issue legally.” He looked back down at the small, dinosaur-like monster. “Do I make myself clear.”

She just stared up at him, stuttering out a “Y-y-y-yes, sir!” He nodded, sighed, and turned. Even if they said it was a false alarm, his people would have to check the place out, and he could see Undyne leading them into the building, no doubt to show them that the chemical fire they’d set was _completely_ harmless.

Thank goodness that was true of magical fires. He hated to think about what would have happened with _real_ chemicals, in Undyne’s hands.

 

—

 

The call had come from Alphys, and he realized his mistake.

He shouldn’t have said anything.

He shouldn’t have _thought_ anything, even.

Jones wasn’t superstitious, but right now, he was wondering if superstitions were part of monster magic. Because that was the only logical reason for the situation he was in right now.

But, he was also a professional, and this wasn’t the usual situation, and it called for a professional response. So, as his team got to work, he got back in his truck and reached for the radio.

It clicked to life as he stared up at the university’s science building, and the smoke that was pouring from all the windows.

“We need backup.”

 

—

 

He was surprised when Undyne arrived, mostly because he assumed she was inside, being part of the problem. Then, because she had obviously run the whole way here, and she was there before the rest of the fire trucks had arrived.

“Hey - What’s - the - deal -?” she panted, pulling to a stop next to Officer Jones, tongue lolling between her impressive teeth.

“Chemical fire, up on the second floor. One of the students called 911, but it’s spread to a few of the floors. The sprinklers went off, but…” he shook his head. “They’re not really helpful for chemical stuff.”

“The second… Where?!” Undyne rounded on him, and he could tell it took some concentrated effort on her part not to pick him up and shake him for answers. “Where on the second floor?!”

“Room 204, Ma’am, but our crews are in there, and they’ve got it under -” There was a sudden roar above them, and the two looked up in time to see a gout of flame shatter a window, pouring out into the air above them.

“Not under control enough!” Undyne shouted, taking a step back. For a split second, he foolishly thought she might be backing down… but no, he knew better. The blue spear that she summoned did catch him off guard, and then she was rushing forward, jumping for an open window on the second floor and disappearing.

He stared dumbly after her, and when he looked around, the dumbfounded faces of his crew met him.

“No time to stare!” he barked, and they jumped. “Back into action, folks! We need to get everyone _out_ of that building!”

Including, he thought privately, foolish blue fish monsters.

 

—

 

“Jones!” He picked up the radio.

“Here. What’s the situation?”

“We’ve found the civilians - one of the professors gathered them in a room far away from the fire.. She says everyone’s accounted for.”

“Great. Is the way out clear?”

“That’s the problem - we need more backup, the roof caved in between us and the stairway, and - wait, hold on…”

He waited, with that awful, gut-wrenching knowledge that, with a situation this unstable, at any moment their contact could be cut off... and it could be the last. But he also had to trust his team.

“I don’t believe it!” the radio crackled, then the younger firefighter laughed. “Jones, you won’t believe this!”

“What, what is it?”

“That fish monster, she just _kicked the rubble_ out of the way! She’s just- spearing the debris and clearing a path! We’ve got a way out!”

Jones could hear Undyne’s voice in the background, shouting something. “We’re on our way out, chief,” the firefighter said quickly, before her voice became distant and the radio buzzed off.

“Keep the front door clear, we’ve got people coming out!” he shouted to the rest of the crew, who focused their hose spray. The fire from the upper windows had slowed somewhat, having run out of easy things to burn on… but they were still steady flames, and they’d reached the third floor, too. If they didn’t get out of the building soon…

There was a horrible cracking sound, and he looked up - a section of the third floor had slowly begun to sag under its weight, the support beneath it weakened by the fire. A cloud of sparks exploded as it dropped another few feet, the whole building groaning-

And then there was movement at the door!

Three firemen, in full regalia, came out, shepherding college students and a few professors. One, two… three students total being carried out, and Jones directed medical service’s attention to them. He looked back to the group coming out.

Three firemen, accounted for… and, apparently, all the students that had been in the building…

But no Undyne or Alphys.

“Anderson!” He shouted to the firefighter that had radioed in, and the gal trotted over, pulling off her helmet and wiping soot and sweat from her face. “Where’s Undyne?”

Anderson shook her head, panting. “We tried to get her with the group… she helped us over to the stairs, and told us the clear way out… but when we asked her to follow she said… said Alphys was working in her lab, 304.”

“The third floor’s collapsed,” he told her. Anderson’s expression changed to one of shock, and she looked back at the building, cursing as she realized.

“Shit!”

“We can’t get another rescue in and out at this point, there’s too much risk,” Jones muttered aloud to himself, thinking. He remembered hearing somewhere about monsters turning to dust when they died, and there was a pang of… something, some emotion, when he thought that their friends and family wouldn’t even be able to collect the bodies if they died in there. “Anderson, get someone to scout the windows around the building, see if they’re maybe trying to-”

“INCOMINGGG!”

“L-look out!”

The shouts echoed, accompanied by the crackle of broken glass, and the two firefighters looked up to see a rolling, blue-yellow mass fly from the third floor, catapulting towards the ground. Two fireman, standing close enough, darted to intercept them, and went down with a “ _WHUMP!_ ” as it landed.

And then the top two floors collapsed.

He was turning to direct the EMS, but they were already on their way over to the two monsters. He could see Alphys sitting up, sooty and coughing, but apparently unharmed. And Undyne…

She was on her back, limbs splayed out, and tongue flopped to the side in a way that might have been almost comical under different circumstances.

But, she wasn’t dust.

 

—

 

The impressive thing, Jones decided, was that, despite having run into an inferno, wearing nothing but a tank-top and jeans, spearing flaming debris and jumping through a reinforced window to land three stories down, the worst Undyne had suffered was minor lacerations and a mild case of heat stroke. The former had been fixed with a little monster food, and the latter by a quick, light spray from the hose.

(He hadn’t _wanted_ to turn the hose on her, since it seemed like it would do more harm than good… but Alphys had insisted it would help, and he wouldn’t argue with results.)

And now, she was sitting on the ground, forced to take it easy by her girlfriend and the entirety of the firefighting and EMS teams, surrounded by students who were thanking her for her part in their rescue. And for someone who seemed self-absorbed, she was being surprisingly humble about the whole thing… though, Jones suspected she was playing up her exhaustion a little, to garner extra attention and fussing from Alphys.

“Nah, it wasn’t a big deal!” she said, waving off one of the grateful professors. “I mean, just doing what I could to help.”

“Well, it means a lot to us,” Anderson said, patting her on the shoulder. “You really saved our bacon back there.”

The monster gave her a toothy, earnest grin that split her face.

And as Jones watched the two monsters talk with the rest of the team, an idea began to form… slowly but surely.

 

—

 

“So, I hear you were part of the Royal Guard before coming to the surface.”

Undyne looked up from her food, grinning when she saw who it was. She thumped the bar stool next to her, and he took a seat, waving to Grillby, who nodded and went to get his usual.

“Yeah! I was actually the head of it, for a long time.” She beamed proudly. “We were pretty awesome. I really whipped those guys into shape.”

“Uh-huh.” Jones waited politely for her to shove a few fries in her mouth. “And, how did you end up head of the Royal Guard?”

“I pick’d a figh’ wif King Asgore,” she replied, muffled by fries. Then, after swallowing, “He started training me, and I slowly worked my way up.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “So, you’re pretty well disciplined, huh?”

She eyed him, and he was pleased to realize she understood this wasn’t just a “friendly chat.” “Yeah. You have to be, to work with a group like that.”

“Hm.” They paused briefly as Grillby brought his food over - he was always impressed by how quickly the fire-man worked. “So, do you have a job yet?”

She made a grumpy noise in the back of her throat. “Still looking. I mean, I have plenty of gold saved up, so it’s not like its a big deal right now, but…” She sighed. “Eventually, that’s gonna run out, and I don’t want to make Alphys pay for everything.”

“Would you like one?” He couldn’t believe he was actually offering, but hey, she was brave, could be disciplined when she set her mind to it, and with some sensible training…

She was staring at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “…why, you know someone?”

“Well…” he took a thoughtful bite of his fries. “We’re always looking for new people down at the station. And after your help the other day, well…” He turned, pointing a stern finger. “Not that I condone such actions, mind you - what you did was _very_ dangerous.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Undyne said dryly. “But, it had to be done.”

“No arguments there.” He took another bite of fry, ignoring the way it tickled and dissolved into magic as it went down his throat. “So. You want the job?”

She was still suspicious. “Are you serious?”

Really, he was, despite himself. “Yep.”

Her demeanor changed _instantly_. “Yeah! Heck yeah!” She pounded him on the back, and he spluttered a little as a fry nearly went down the wrong way - but then didn’t, because, magic food. Weird. “That sounds _awesome_! Well, except for the heat part…” Her enthusiasm died some, but she rebounded quickly. “But, you guys have all that neat equipment, right? And it can’t be any worse than a full set of plate armor, haha!”

He just shook his head, not sure how to answer that. Then, he stuck out a hand. She took it, shaking it firmly and grinning. He smiled back.

“Undyne. Welcome to the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks of firefighter training, the “accidents” at the fish-lizard household finally stopped. Jones nodded wisely to himself. Win-win.
> 
> (Also, next up, Undyne Vs Flannel!)

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, and want more, tell me what you'd like to see next! Or go here ( http://mercurial-writ.tumblr.com/post/134714846754/so-i-just-made-a-list-of-self-prompts-to-work-on ) and pick one from the list for me to do next! :3c


End file.
